Time's Fate
by RandyPandy
Summary: Ten years after the events of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, Yugi encounters the boy that will eventually become the duelist that he remembers him as.


I've written fanfics before, but this is my first time writing a Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic that wasn't back when I didn't know how to write. I somehow recently got back into the fandom and have felt the need to experiment with this series. Enjoy. By the way... Judai is Jaden's Japanese name, in case you don't know.

**Warning! Spoilers for the last five or so episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters and episodes 1 and 178-180 of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! and most likely never will. If I did, I wouldn't have had a reason to get teary-eyed on the last episode of DM.

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Even after so many years, with the trouble caused by the Millennium Items literally buried away, Yugi Mouto still wondered whether he was still being guided by fate.

He looked through the cards in the new booster pack that he had recently bought, and paused as he encountered a card labeled Elemental Hero Neos. Apparently, nothing in this booster pack had been released before, but he was about ninety-nine percent sure that he had seen the card before… and dueled against it.

"His name was… Judai, wasn't it? Judai Yuki…" he said, running a hand through his wild yellow, black, and red hair. It may have been about ten years, but he remembered that duel as if it were yesterday, perhaps because that boy was one of the few he had met in his lifetime that truly respected his cards. Reminiscing as to how he had met the young duelist not too long after Battle City, he said to himself, "How time flies…"

There had been some strange things about Judai. The boy, who had hair in two shades of brown, had shown him a Winged Kuriboh card and claimed that he had given it to him and that it had led him to Yugi. But Yugi did not ever remember meeting him before that day, let alone giving him a card that he hadn't ever seen before. The two had dueled, with Judai using a model of Duel Disc that was unfamiliar to him.

Not only that, the King of Games had never heard from Judai again. A duelist of his caliber surely would have participated in tournaments, and with a Duel Disc, he must have been registered as a duelist. For all intents and purposes, it was as if Jaden had never existed. The only things that proved that he had existed were Yugi's own memories of dueling him.

Shaking his head, Yugi placed the cards in his spare pouch and opened up the second booster pack that he had bought. He wasn't sure what to think as he took the nine cards out, flipping through them until he paused at the very last one.

Winged Kuriboh. A monster that had come out not too long after Duel Academy had officially opened its doors. Despite that, Judai had already had the card in his possession when the two had battled ten years back, and the Duelist and the monster had seemed really close, as if they'd known each other for quite awhile.

"Just what is going on?" murmured Yugi, staring at the card. _Someone up there is playing jokes on me today. Is it you, other me?_ He shrugged and pocketed the cards, resuming his stroll through the park. It was a rather nice day, and he shouldn't be worrying too much about a ten-year-old issue. However, he didn't get to walk very far before he heard a shout coming from behind him.

"Watch out!"

The voice rang a bell in his mind, as if he'd heard it before, and Yugi turned around just as a brown-haired boy dashing through the streets collided with him. Yugi managed to keep his balance quite well, but the boy bounced off him and fell to the ground. However, he didn't even look up, saying a hurried apology as he scooped up the cards that had fallen from his Duel Disc.

Yugi glanced between the boy dusting off his scattered cards and the Duel Disc, before asking, "Are you a duelist?" It was always nice to meet younger Duelists; they reminded him much of himself and his friends before everything had happened, and this one had more respect for his cards than most of the children and even adults that he saw nowadays. The boy's voice sounded eerily familiar though. _Where have I seen him before? He looks so familiar…_

After blowing dust off one card, the boy paused, turning towards him slightly with a proud but childish grin, but with his attention still focused on the cards. "Yeah! I'm going to take the test at the Duel Academy!" he said.

As he spoke, Yugi's eyes widened imperceptibly as he saw both the dual-shaded brown hair and the familiar face of Judai Yuki. _This proves it. The Pharaoh's abusing his status and right as a minor god and definitely having fun with me today. He's going to get an earful when I see him in the afterlife._

However, Judai appeared to be a few years younger than Yugi remembered him (though he wasn't sure whether it was because he was now older than he had been when the two met). _It's like I've traveled through time and saw him before we dueled!_ _Wait…_ '_traveled through time'?_ In that instant, the puzzle clicked together in his mind. The mystery of Judai Yuki, which had troubled him for about ten years, had finally been solved. Smiling slightly, he reached into his pocket, pulling out the Winged Kuriboh he had bought earlier that day.

Judai, having finally recovered all of his cards, placed them in his pocket and stood up. He faced Yugi and laughed nervously, before his eyes widened in astonishment when he finally noticed the other's face. "You are…!" His voice trailed off, not stating the obvious.

Smiling, Yugi held out the Winged Kuriboh to Judai. "This is a lucky card," Yugi said. "It seems like it wants to be with you." Okay, maybe he left something out. He _knew_ it belonged to him, but he couldn't exactly tell him how he knew that. And he didn't regret giving the card to him in the slightest. Whatever trials Judai went through, he and that monster would become rather close.

Judai blinked slightly, gaping at what had just occurred, before taking the card. "Thanks!" he said, eyes brightening.

His job done for the moment, Yugi walked past the young duelist, with two words. "Good luck!"

"Yeah!" Judai said. As he continued to walk, he stopped when he heard boy's next words. "Thank you very much!"

Yugi looked back to where Judai was politely bowing to him as per the Japanese custom, before giving the younger duelist both a smile and a thumbs up and walking away. After awhile, he turned around to see that Judai had disappeared, most likely towards Duel Academy.

The Duel Monsters champion sat down on a nearby bench, pondering. "So he was telling me the truth when he said I gave him that Winged Kuriboh," Yugi said to himself. He smiled. "No matter. I look forward to seeing him become the great duelist that I remember." He looked up at the sky, thinking about his encounter.

_Good luck, Judai. We'll meet again in three years. I know we will… because I already have._

_

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_Phew, done.How'd I do?_  
_


End file.
